FOOTBALL CENTRAL: #25/24 Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech (Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game)

UT vs. GT / Credit: UT Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. โ€” No. 25/24 Tennessee will open its 2017 season on Monday, Sept. 4, against Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

The game will feature an 8 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN with Rece Davis (play-by-play) and Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) in the booth and Maria Taylor reporting from the sidelines. Vol Network radio affiliates will have a live audio broadcast with Bob Kesling, Tim Priest and Brent Hubbs. Sirius and XM satellite radio will also carry the game on Channel 80.

On Aug. 9, the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game announced that the Tennessee-Georgia Tech game is sold out.

Tennessee head coach Butch Jones enters his fifth season at the helm of the program and has led the Vols to four-straight wins in season openers. Mondayโ€™sgame will mark the second time under Jones that the Vols will have opened the season at a neutral site. Tennessee took a 59-30 win over Bowling Green in the 2015 opener at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

Chick-fil-A Kickoff Monday

On Aug. 31, 2012, the Vols defeated NC State, 35-21, in their only other appearance in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.

The Big Orange will be one of the first teams to play in the brand new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The stadium will host another Chick-fil-A Kickoff game on Saturday as No. 1 Alabama takes on No. 3 Florida State. The SEC currently holds a 7-1 advantage over the ACC in those games. Overall, the SEC is 9-2 when playing for the Old Leather Helmet.

UTโ€™s Labor Day meeting with the Yellow Jackets will mark the 25th time that the Vols have played on a Monday. UT is 12-11-1 all-time in Monday games.

Tennessee is officially 107-59-4 (.630) all-time in night games (those beginning after 6 p.m. local time).

Renewing An Old Rivalry

Tennessee and Georgia Tech have squared off 43 times and the Vols lead the all-time series 24-17-2. UT has won the past five games between the teams, including their last meeting in 1987 when the Vols took a 29-15 win in Neyland Stadium.

Both schools have a rich college football history as Tennessee begins is 121st season of football and Georgia Tech has been playing on the gridiron since 1892. The Yellow Jacketsโ€™ greatest coach was Bobby Dodd, who coached GT from 1945-66. Before that he starred as a player for Tennessee, lettering from 1928-30 and earning All-America honors in 1930.

Tennessee is 117-65-2 all-time against current members of the ACC. Georgia Tech is 210-216-4 against the current members of the SEC.

-UT Athletics